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Abstract

Summary form only given. A new concept of passive articulated link mechanism is proposed to assist surgeons in the strong magnetic field of open configuration MRI, especially for neurosurgery. The core idea has been experimentally validated with the device which gives variable viscosity to cylinder rod motion by controlling the valve opening attached to the cylinder. Then a multiple degrees of freedom link mechanism is designed and simulated under several restrictions and constraints mainly concerned with space factors of the open configuration MRI and its field of view. Through this design and sequential simulation, it is concluded that the core idea could be extended to a multiple link mechanism suitable for neurosurgery.